MindMarginSBS Swiss Business School: AI and cognitive offloading
Heavier AI use went hand in hand with weaker critical thinking, linked to handing more of the thinking to the tool.
- Author
- Michael Gerlich, SBS Swiss Business School
- Published
- Societies 15(1):6, 2025
- Peer review
- Peer-reviewed
- Participants
- 666
- Method
- Surveys and interviews
- Design
- Correlational
What they did
Michael Gerlich of SBS Swiss Business School surveyed and interviewed 666 people about how often they use AI tools, how much of their thinking they hand off to those tools (cognitive offloading), and their critical thinking.
What they found
People who used AI tools more often scored lower on critical thinking, and the link ran through offloading: heavier users handed more of their thinking to the tool.
“The findings revealed a significant negative correlation between frequent AI tool usage and critical thinking abilities, mediated by increased cognitive offloading.”
Gerlich, Societies 2025, abstract
What it doesn't show
- It is correlational. It shows a link between AI use and critical thinking scores, not proof that AI use caused the difference.
- Much of it relies on surveys, which depend on how people describe themselves.
- A later correction (Societies 15(9):252) fixed a duplicated table. It did not change the conclusions.
Read the paper
Read the paper in Societies“AI Tools in Society: Impacts on Cognitive Offloading and the Future of Critical Thinking.”
How MindMargin relates
Cognitive offloading is not bad in itself; everyone uses calendars and calculators. The question is which skills you still want to keep sharp. MindMargin lets you keep offloading the task to AI while you practice the things you want to remember.